O Tannebaum!

This will be the first year since Zach and I have been married that we haven't gone to one of our parents houses to celebrate. It is both exciting and a little sad. Because we have always been away from home for Christmas, we've never bought a Christmas tree before. And that, my friends, was definitely due for a change.

I love Christmas. It is by far my favorite holiday (following distantly by Independence Day, because I love America and fireworks and I love being allowed to hold sparkley fire on a stick) and one of the best traditions of Christmas is the Christmas tree. It's magical.

They were selling Christmas trees close to our house, so we decided to walk down there and pick one up. We had promised the boys we would go that day, otherwise the rain probably would have kept Zach and I at home for fairer weather. I guess that's Christmas is the Bay Area for you.


The Boys ran all over the place looking for the perfect tree.


Sam, being silly.

We were pretty quick in deciding, since there were only so many trees in our price range and the boys were running around yelling about which trees they wanted (all of them!) and it was raining after all. So we went ahead and picked out our tree and the very nice man let the boys help out with the tree dolly.


Two very helpful 4-year-olds.

This was a great little lot, though they didn't have one of those tree shaker things that gets rid of all the dead needles stuck in the tree (which even freshly cut trees have), so I ended up raking them all out with my fingers and sucking them up with the vacuum (and then getting the vacuum clogged and having to suck them all up again after I cleaned out the vacuum. *Note-wet fir needles clump like the dickens.) Other than that, they were stellar.

We paid and the man asked where our car was so he could tie our beautiful tree to the top. Zach told him that we had walked and that we were going to use the stroller to take the tree home. He just stared at Zach for a moment and then said, "really?!?" Yep. So we strapped it to the stroller, which held it remarkably well, and the man asked if he could take a picture because no one had ever done that before.

As Zach said later, "Doing crazy things is how you make memories!"


Zach and the boys with our Christmas bounty.

We let the boys play in the mud puddles on the way home, which they loved immensely and showed their appreciation by getting completely wet and muddy.


Holly, Jolly Mud Puddle hopping.

We got the tree home safe and sound and put it up in the stand. After some consideration, we decided to wait until morning to decorate the tree since stringing electric lights on a wet tree had visions of fire hazards dancing in my head. And it was much drier in the morning, so good decision.


The boys attacked decorating the Christmas tree with much fervor and gusto.


This is Sam's Santa Claus costume by the way; a santa hat, his big, red shirt and no pants. He often includes a pillowcase filled with toys as well.


Ben and Sam getting presents to put under the tree. Also, for those interested, a belly shot (31 weeks). Lovely.


As you can see, the idea of spreading the different colors of ornaments throughout the tree is something that the boys have yet to really grasp. There are some who go their who lives without really having a grasp on this concept, but I'm hoping I can still instill it in the boys. I've been moving some of the ornaments around, for both practical and aesthetic reasons since we put it up, but the boys keep moving them again afterwards, so it is something of an exercise in futility.


Ben and Sam after triumphantly decorating their first Christmas tree. How lovely are thy branches indeed, Tannebaum!

Boy Talk

Sam: I'm being Santa, so you need to be an elf.
Ben: But my ears aren't pointy.
Sam: Just pretend they're pointy!

Ben: (making up this song in bed) God is true and he's never gonna not be true!!! He will save me all day loooong!!

Sam: (Talking to himself in the bathroom) Uno! Dos! Tres!
Katie: Sam, are you done?
Sam: No, amigo!

Sam: Mom, do you know where my calendar is?
Ben: Maybe you lost it.
Sam: Don't talk to me about losing!!

Ben: (Singing over and over) Mr. Golden sun won't you shine down on me! Mr. Golden sun won't you shine on me!

Thanksgiving Review

Because my brain is not completely working these days (at least half my physical and mental energy is building a small human cell by cell as we speak) I forgot to bring our camera with us on our trip to Washington. But, trust me, it was awesome. The boys had been praying for snow for a while now, and we had told them that there was a tiny chance that it might snow while we were in Washington for Thanksgiving, so they latched onto that. And prayed with all the faith and fervor a four-year-old could muster.

And it came to pass that the wind changed and brought down some freakin' cold weather from Alaska and totally threw the poor residents for a loop (since they are used to pretty mild winters and not that early anyway). Driving was hard, since they didn't have enough salt for the roads yet, but the boys were absolutely delighted and spent a lot of time outside getting frozen.

We got to spend a lot of time with Zach's family, snuggled up in their house with a fire going and hot chocolate and dogs that like to snuggle under blankets with you (until they are jumped on by playful little boys). And we got to see some movies (Megamind and Tangled). I think the boys will begin to associate the movie theater experience with grandparents, since that's the only time we actually go to the movies. And we ate a huge, scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner at Zach's grandfather's house in the Washington countryside. It was lovely!

So, I'm thankful for snow and prayer and family. And hot chocolate. And fire places. And crossing back over into California, where we didn't need jackets anymore.